Telephone meter-service system.



H. n. smoun. TELEPHONE METER SERVICE SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 3. I913- LQMQW. Patented Jan.22,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

M/ITNESSES H. D. STROUD. TELEPHONE METER SERVICE SYSTEM.

I APPLICATION FILED APR. 3. I913. LQEQQQU,

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- Patented Jan. 22, 1918.

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HOLD D. STROUD, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB T0 AUTOMATIC ELECTRICCOMPANY OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION 015 ILLINOIS.

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To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HAROLD D. STRoUD, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and resident of Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, have invented acertain new and useful Improvement in Telephone Meter-Service Systems,of which the following is a specification.

phone systems, and more particularly to an arrangementin an automatictelephone sysis the provision of a spring-operated register which isnormally locked and which is released upon the response of the calledsubscriber, and is again locked when the conversation is completed.

A still further feature of my invention is the provision of a time meterassociated with each of the automatic switches which are employed inestablishing a connection,.

the purpose of which meter is to register the exact time that theseswitches remain in operative condition, it being often advisable to knowjust how much certain switches are operated-that is, to know the totallength of time a switch is busy during a certain given period.

These and other objects of my invention will be more readily understoodby refer- Specification of Letters Patent.

My invention relates to registers for tele- Patented Jan. 22, 11918.

Application filed April 3, 1913. Serial No. 758,635.

switch D for controlling all the plungers of a group of line switches towhich a switch C belongs. This group of line switches has common accessto trunk lines leading to first selectors which are adapted to extendthe connection to second selectors such as the second selector F. Fromthe second selector F the connection is extended to a connector such asthe connector H (Fig. 2), through the medium of which the line isconnected by way of certain springs of the line switch 0 to the calledsubscribers substation A.

The telephone may be of any suitable automatic common battery type. Asherein represented it consists of a receiver 18, transmitter 19, ringer20 and condenser 21. Being an automatic telephone it is also providedwith the impulse springs 22 and 23 and an impulse wheel 25 which has aplurality of teeth 24 upon its periphery. This wheel is secured to ashaft 26 upon which is also secured a dial (not shown). This dial isprovided with finger holes around its edge for convenience in rotating,and the impulse wheel 25, upon returning to its normal position by meansof a spring after being pulled around corresponding to the digit to becalled, opens and closes the impulse springs 22 and 23 a correspondingnumber of times. I

The line switch C, which is individual to the line of the substation A,and the master switch D are modified forms of the general type of lineswitch and master switch disclosed in British patent to R. WV. James No.26,301 of 1906, being of the particular type shown in British patent toS. G. S. Dicker No. 10,926 of 1911. As herein represented, the lineswitch C comprises among other details a plunger (not shown) attached tothe end of a plunger arm 27. This plunger arm is controlled by amagnet28 which also controls the armatures 29 and 30. The magnet 28 iscomposed of four distinct windings, a pull-down windino 31, a hold-downor cutofi' winding 32, a line winding 33 and an auxiliary winding 34.The magnetic circuit of the windings 31 and 32 are kept separate fromthe windings 33 and 34. The plungers of the line switches normallyengage with a so-called plunger guide shaft which is controlled by themaster switch D, the function of which shaft is to maintain the idleplungers opposite an idle trunk.

The first and second selectors E and F are of the type disclosed inBritish patent vertical and rotary magnets 37 and 38 and the releasemagnet 39. These selectors are also provided with the usual sideswitch.

,, The connector H is of the general type disclosed in United StatesLetters Patent No. 815,176, grantedMarch 13, 1906, to Keith, Ericksonand Erickson, the circuits, however, being modified, as shown in saidBritish patent No. 10,926 of 1911, in order to adapt the switch foroperation in a two-wire system. Like the selectors, the connector isprovided with a shaft (not shown) which carries the wi ers 13, 14 and 15onto the desired contacts. his shaft is raised and rotated by means ofthe vertical, and rotary magnets 40 and 41. The side switch iscontrolled bythe private magnet 42 in the usual manner. This connectoris also provided with a socalled back-bridge relay 44 which is the meansof providing talking battery current to the called subscriber, and whichalso operates upon the response of the called subscriber to cause thebattery current in the calling subscribers line to be reversed tooperate the polarized magnet J, which latter operates its armature atthis time to release the escapement of the time-piece K and thus startsto record the length of time the subscribers are conversing. Ringingcurrent is supplied to the called subscribers line by means of the relay46 and the ringing machine RG. Connected across the line is the usualline relay 48, which is energized immediately when the line connectionis extended to the connector. For the purpose of releasing the connectorthere is provided the usual release magnet 49.

The line switch C'- is in every respect like the line switch 0, andalthough the master switch which controls the plungers of the group ofline switches to which the switch C belongs is not shown, it can be ofthe same time as that shown at D in Fig. 1. The meter mechanism andtelephone at the substation A are the same as the meter and telephoneshown at the substation A.

The operation of such a system is well known and understood to thoseskilled in the art, and as the particular construction and operation ofthis system forms no part of my present invention it is not thoughtnecessary to explain the same further in detail.

The principal feature of my invention lies in the meter arrangement forthe purpose of measuring the actual time which is taken up by onesubscriber conversing with another. This arrangement consists of apolarized magnet J in series with one side spring-driven watch movement.It should,

however, be capable of registering the maximum total time which thetelephone is liable to be used during a somewhat extended period, say,for instance, a month. Upon the calling subscriber taking his receiveroff the switch hook a current is sent through the polarized magnet. inthe direction to keep its armature drawn down so as to continue inengagement with the escapement of the time-piece. The armature is thusattracted until the flow of current is reversed at the connector switchupon the called subscriber answering the call. This reversal of currentis controlled by the energization of the so-called back-bridge relay 44.This relay, upon energizing, closes a circuit through thebattery-reversing relay 45 from ground G through the side switch wiper73, relay 45 and springs 126 to the battery B. Upon the relay 45energizing it forms a locking circuit for itself, said circuit extendingfrom ground G through the side switch-wiper 73, relay 45, through thefront contact of the spring 79 and through the side switch wiper 74 tothe battery B. Upon the relay 45 becoming energized the springs 102 and103 break away from their back contacts and close their front contacts,thus transferring the negative line to the positive pole of the batteryand the positive line to the negative pole of the battery through theline relay 48. The flow of cur rent thus reversed operates the polarizedmagnet J at the calling substation so as to attract its armature torelease the escapement of the time-piece K and thus hold it until theconnection is released. It is thus seen that the calling subscribersregister begins to operate only when the called subscriber responds, sothat the subscriber is not charged with the time takento set upconnection or for the called subscriber to answer, but is charged onlyfrom the time the conversation begins.

Upon the subscribers completing their conversation the central officeapparatus is restored to normal'condition by the calling subscriberhanging up his receiver in the usual and well-known manner. Batterycurrent then ceases to flow through the polarized magnet J at thecalling telephone and its armature is accordingly allowed to return toits normal position into engagement with the escapement of thetime-piece K to thus stop the operation of the meter. It will be noticedthat the operation of the meter is dependent upon the reversal ofcurisle aaaaaee I called subscriber removes his receiverfrom the switchhook, and comes to rest only when the calling subscriber hangs up his.receiver to release the connection. desired that the called subscribershall be able to bring the meter of the calling subscriber to rest uponthe hanging up of his receiver, the front contact of the spring 79 ofthe relay 4 5 of the connector switch may be omitted. Without thiscontact the relay 45 will be energized when the called subscriber hangsup his receiver. This will restore the, current in the calling line toits normal direction, whereby the armature of the magnet J will bebrought into engagement with the'escapement of the time-piece K and itwill be brought to rest notwithstanding that the calling subscriber maynot yet have hung up his receiver.

In order to determine the time during which each switch in the system isin use a register similar to the one shown at the substation A isassociated with each switch,-

and these are represented at K, K, K and Y K by an escapement wheel andlever. Un-

locking magnets 58, 62, 62 and '71 are associated with these registers,but these magnets difier from the magnet J by reason of the fact thatthey are not polarized. The

. unlocking magnet 58, which is associated (iii with the line switch C,is connected with the D .spring 9, so that as soon as this line switchis operated to'connect with an idle trunk line, this spring comes intocontact with the spring 8 and thus closes the circuit of the magnet 58.It is obvious that this circuit will be closed as long as this lineswitch is in operated condition, but as soon as the line switch isreleased this magnet will be deenergized and the meter again locked. Ina similar manner the unlocking magnet 62 of the first selector isenergized as soon as the slow acting relay 36 is energized, so as toclose the circuit of the said magnet 62 through the springs 60 and 61 toground G 'Ihis slow acting relay 36 is energized in a well known manneras soon as the first selector is seized, for upon the springs 2, 3, t,and 5 of the line switch being pressed toether, and the connectionextended to the first selector E, the line relay 35 becomes energizedand closes the circuit from ground G through itsfront contact andthrough the slow acting release relay 36 to the battery lead 100. In asimilar manner the unlocking magnet 62* of the second selector isenergized as soon as connection is extended.

If it'is' responding meter. It will thus be seen that I have devised avery simple and eificient arrangement for measuring the exact length oftime that each of these switches is in use.

While I have illustrated the registering devices associated with thesubstation and with the automatic switches in connection with anautomatic telephone system of a particular type, it is, of course,understood that my invention is not limited to use in such a svstem. Theregistering device at the substation may be employed with any automaticsystem of a wellknown type, and in its broader aspect my invention maybe em-- ployed in connection with either manual or semi-automaticsystems. Furthermore, the

meter device associated with the automatic.

switches can, of course, be associated with automatic switches of anydesired type.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In a telephone system, an automaticswitch,,means for seizing said switch, means for operating said switchand for releasing the same, a time register associated with said switch,means for starting said register inoperation when said switch is seized,and means for stopping said register when said switch is released,whereby said register automatically records the length of time that saidswitch is in use.

2. In a telephone system, an automatic normally locking said registeragainst operlltl ation, a magnet controlling said locking" means, meansfor energizing said magnet when said switch is seized to thereby releasesaid register, and means for denergizing said magnet when said switch isreleased to thereby again lock said register.

3. In a telephone system, a plurality of subscribers lines, a series ofautomatic switches for use in establishing a connection between two ofsaid lines, a time register associated with each of said switches, meansnormally locking said time registers against operation, means forunlocking a time register as soon as its associated switch is seized,and means for again locking said time register when its associatedswitch is released.

4. In a telephone system, subscribers lines each provided with anindividual line or Mid trunk selecting switch, a time registerassociated with each switch, means controlled over a calling line foroperating its individual switch upon the initiation of a call and-forreleasing the operated switch when disconnectlon is desired, and acircuit for controlling the operation of the associated time register,said circuit being closed when the associated switch is operated andopened when it is released.

Signed by me at Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, this 26th day of March,1913. HAROLD D. STROUD.

Witnesses: v

- ALEX E. WALKER, ARTHUR J. RAY.

